Cloth-stretching machine.



No. 639,492. 'Patented nec. I9, |899.

A. AsHwonTH.

CLOTH STRETCHING MACHINE.

(Application filed May 25, 1899.)

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llivrrn ARTHUR ASHVVORTH, OF BURY, ENGLAND.

CLOTH-STRETCHING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,492, dated December 19, 1899.

Application led May 25,1899.

To all 1U/tom zit may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR AsHwoRTH, a

citizen of England, residing at Bury, in the' county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth-Stretching Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to machines employed for stretching textile fabrics, in which machines the fabrics are drawn successively under or over pairs of conical rollers, the rolle ers being rotated by the motion of the cloth. Such a machine as at present constructed is found to he very effective in producing both longitudinal and transverse extension of the cloth without physical injury to it; but it is found that the cloth is apt to deviate from a ri goro usly-strai ght path i n its passage through the machine. It is obvious from the nature of the machine that any such deviation of the y cloth will bring one side of it upon a larger diameter and the other side upon a smaller diameter of the conical rollers,.with the result that uneven stretchin gis produced. My present improvements are directed to the object of avoiding this defect, and, further, of providing means for more perfectlycontrolling the amount of tension in any part of the machine, so, for example, that a moderate tension may be exerted on the cloth as it enters the machine and that this tension may be added to step bystep as the clothisdrawn The deviation of the cloth toward the larger end of any one of the conicalrollers increases the pressure on the bearing at that end of the'roller. crease of pressure is that there is an increased downward thrust if the cloth passes over the roller or an increased upward pull if the cloth passes under the roller. I utilize this fact for the purpose of my present invention by mounting the roller-journals at the larger ends of the rollers in bearings which are capable of being moved upward or downward in vertical guides. The upward or Kdownward pull can thus be made to move the roller in its direction, and this in cases of slight deviation will suffice to straighten the cloth; but it is also desirable to provide a remedy for more persistent deviations of the cloth, and I obtain this by-insuring that anything more than a slight upward or downward motion of the The result of this in Serial No. 718,139. (No model.)

roller shall bring it into contact with a brake or friction surface which may be stationary or which may move to meet the roller. the cloth rotates the roller the retardation of the roller by the brake sets up a resistance to the passage of the cloth, which resistance is the greater the larger the local diameter of the roller. The moving cloth, naturally seeking the path of least resistance, immediately moves overy to a smaller diameter of the rollerthat is to say, it resumes its normal straight path automatically. To allow the motion of the axis of the roller, I mount the spindle at the narrow end of the roller in a yielding bearing.

For the purpose of insuring the more complete control of the tension of the cloth in different parts of the machine I intercalate between any or every two pairs of conical rollers a cylindrical roller which may be. raised or lowered at will and over or under which the cloth passes.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my improvements and will be hereinafter re ferred to.

Figure l represents a crossvsection through the machine, and Fig. 2 a partial sectional plan. Fig. 3 shows, on a larger scale, a side view, and Fig. 4 an end view, of one of the pairs of conical rollers with the devices for regulating the travel of the cloth. Fig. 5 shows, on a still larger scale, an end view, and Fig. 6 a cross-section, of lthe brake-motion. Fig. 7 shows a simplification in the brake-m0 tion.

In the actual machine there may be twenty or more pairs of the conical rollers; but for the purposes of my present invention it is necessary to illustrate two only, as in Fig. 2.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4,- 5, G, and 7, it will be seen that the conical rollers have their outer journals mounted in the bearing-blocks B B, each of which is normally held at the upper part of the vertical guides A by the spring S, further upward movement 0f the blocks being prevented by the vcap-plates D D. The journals of the conical rollers at their inner ends are carried by the bearings E E, which may be provided with lugs pinned at F F to the support G or be otherwise constructed so as to yield with the movement of the axes of the rollers. As hereinbefore set forth, this arrangement will suffice to regularize all but the more persistent deviations in the travel of the cloth from a straight path. To provide for these more persistent deviations, I employ a brake ar1'angement,\vhich may consist of a xed block, with which the roller comes into contact when it moves upward or downward; but a more effective arrangement consists in a rod H, which may be adjustable, as shown by Fig. 6 or by Fig. 7, which is secured to the bearing-block B of each conical roller. At its lower end this rod is pinned or rests upon a horizontal lever L. In the construction shown by Fig. 7 the rod H may rest by a nut N upon the end of the lever L, and the distance between the lever and the bearing-block may be adjusted by rotat-ion of the nut. On the opposite end of the lever, near to the conical roller, there is a friction-plate I. From the illustrated construction and arrangement it follows that when the cloth pass ing over the conical rollers deviates from a straight pat-h it pulls the bearing-block downward, already described. This motion of the bearing-block brings the friction-plate into contact with the conical roller, with the result already hereinbefore set forth.

The devices for regulating the tension in the cloth are represented by Figs. l and 2. Between each pair of conical rollers there is a cylindrical roller R, mounted by its journals in two vertically-sliding bearings J J. Each ofthe bearings J has a screw-nut formed in it, through which the vertical screw passes. On the upper end of each of these screws there is a fixed a bevel-wheel M, gearing with another wheel O on the horizontal shaft Q, which can be rotated by the hand-wheel W. The wheels M M and O O must respectively have the same number of teeth, so that rotation of the shaft Q will produce equal motion in the two bearings J J. In the construction represented the cloth passes under each tension-roller R and over all the conical rollers C C. When it passes under the conical rollers and over the tension-rollers, it will be obvious that the arrangements illustrated by Fig. 3 to 7, inclusive, must be inverted.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In a cloth-stretching machine of the conical-roller type, the combination with each of the conical rollers, of a vertically-sliding bearing for the journal at the larger end ofthe roller, a spring to counteract the pressure exerted upon the roller, a brake capable of being moved into and out of contact with the roller, a rod connecting the bearing with the brake in such a manner that displacement of the bearing operates the brake, and a hinged or pivoted bearing for the journal at the smaller end of the roller, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cloth-stretching machine of the conical-roller type, the combination and arrangement with the bearing of each journal at the larger end of each conical roller, of a spring tending to resist displacement of the'bearing from its normal position, a brake capable of being moved into and out of contact with the roller, and a rod or like means for communieating the motion of the bearing to the brake, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I subscribe my signature in presence ot two witnesses.

ARTHUR ASHVVOR'IH. lVitnesses:

WILLIAM E. HEYs,

ARTHUR MILLWARD. 

